credits?

[Res0lu7ion]

how can i do it in the animation? do i need a different program or can i do it in 3ds max.

also how can i add text because i want to mark some things in the animation

[dtengineering]

There are a number of ways to "do credits". If you've got Windows Movie Maker, then I believe there are options in there to do a 2D version.

However you may want to create text in 3DS Max and animate and render it to do the credits. While I haven't used Max in a while, so I can't tell you exactly which icons/workflow to use the basic concept is to create a spline and extrude it.

The main thing you should know, however, is that there is a tonne of Max help available just by googling. Try "3ds text" and the second hit will be http://www.guide2computeranimation.c...eled_text1.htm a good one. You might also try "3ds credits". Any major book store with a good computer section will have at least a few books on using 3ds max, but you can probably get a better deal by looking for books on using older versions of Max at second hand bookshops. The basic concepts don't change much from version to version... or even from software package to software package (I teach using Cinema 4D). Also never forget that help files, once you get good at searching them, are incredibly amazingly useful.

Have fun as you learn animation... but also learn the even more important skill of how to search for information.

Jason

[MasterRobot]

another thing you could do is just spend a bit of time to model letters in 3Ds Max and save it as a different file, so whenever you need letters you can just merge the letters you already had into the scene you want them to be in.

it does take a while, but in the end you get fairly nice 3D letters

(i bet there is a simpler way out there, but i did it the hard way)

[Res0lu7ion]

well there is some type of text function... im just doing it by changing the camera angle to a black box and allowing the text to just float up.

[BuddyB309]

you can always have fun with the credits. I put this together for my team just for fun last year.

the most extravagant credits

[Kevin Thorp]

Two Suggestions:

1. Adobe Premiere is a very powerful editing program that has a very nice titling & credits feature. It's pretty expensive, but Adobe Premiere "Elements" is almost as good and much cheaper - under $100. It also has a 30-day free trial.

or...

2. In 3ds Max there is a text button under 2d Shapes. Create the text you want then add an Extrude modifier. You can give it an extrude depth of 0 if you want 2d text .

You can animate the text moving up or the camera moving down to get a scroll effect. But credits don't have to scroll. You can have the credits off-screen & when the time is right, move or rotate the camera over to view the credits.

[BuddyB309]

Originally Posted by Kevin342

Two Suggestions:

1. Adobe Premiere is a very powerful editing program that has a very nice titling & credits feature. It's pretty expensive, but Adobe Premiere "Elements" is almost as good and much cheaper - under $100. It also has a 30-day free trial.

Autodesk Frowns upon using other companies software for the Autodesk Visualization Award. I would try to use Combustion. That can handle video and sound, plus you can edit with it. If you ask autodesk in advance, I'm sure you can get a copy for very cheap. They're a pretty cool company, I've seen them sponsor so many events so they can hand out their products to students everywhere.

[Corporat]

To go along with what Buddy said, if your team is registered on Autodesk's FIRST site, you can download this year's Combustion for free. I might be mistaken (they did it last year, though later in the season).
But if all you want to do is make credits in 2d, and you don't want to bother getting Combustion, you can use Premiere or Final Cut or any other video editing software. And the secret is...no one will know the difference.

And for text in 3dsmax, the text object in 2d shapes is really the way to go. I don't think you want to waste too much time on creating separate text shapes that might not come out just right. And I'm pretty sure you get your choice of font too (don't hold me to it).

[Kevin Thorp]

Originally Posted by BuddyB309

Autodesk Frowns upon using other companies software for the Autodesk Visualization Award...

There is nothing in the rules that states you can't use non-Autodesk software for post-production. All they require is that you list the software you use. Many teams (including ours) have used video editing software, like Adobe Premiere, in the past.

We looked at Combustion but liked Premiere better. It had more features and was easier to use - at least for us. Others might like Combustion.